Climate Mitigation

Peatlands are wetland areas with a thick water-logged organic soil layer (peat) made up of dead and decaying plant material. Peatlands include moors, bogs, mires, peat swamp forests and permafrost tundra. They are home to many threatened species and globally store at least 550 Gigatonnes of carbon in their organic soils. This is twice the amount of carbon stored in the world’s forests. We are dedicated to saving the world’s peatlands.

The problems

Carbon emissions

Natural peatlands sequester carbon and thus help to mitigate climate change. Human actions, such as forest clearing and drainage for agriculture have turned many peat swamps into sources of greenhouse gas emissions. With two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, peatland loss has become a climate problem of global magnitude. Read more.

Soil subsidence

Another but generally overlooked issue is soil subsidence. Subsidence is the lowering of the soil surface as the result of compaction, shrinkage and loss of substance (carbon) due to oxidation and erosion. It is a well-known and inevitable phenomenon in all places in the world where peatlands have been drained. Lowland regions with extensive areas of drained peat soils stand to experience unprecedented flooding. Read more.

Solutions

To prevent such disaster, there is an urgent need to strengthen awareness, understanding and capacity to manage peatlands wisely. Through our research, field restoration work and advocacy, we promote the conservation, rehabilitation and wise use of peatlands.

We fight the underlying economic drivers of peatland loss, including conversion to pulp and oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, peat mining in Europe and Argentina, and ploughing peatlands for agriculture in Europe.